1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to alignment devices and, more specifically, to a clip for aligning layers of cinderblocks without placing mortar between the layers and adjacent blocks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous types of interlocking building implements have been provided in the prior art without widespread acceptance ion the industry. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 384,541; 2,235,646; 2,552,712; 2,963,828; 3,036,407; 3,274,742; 3,390,502; 3,430,404; 3,936,987; 4,454,699; 5,252,017; and 5,820,305 are all illustrative of such prior art. While these interlocking building implements may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.
Disclosed is a hollow rectangular concrete building block having the projecting tongue D on its top and the groove C in its lower side, the tongue of one block fitting into the groove of the superimposed block, and the ends of the block being provided with a series of scallops or vertical corrugations extending entirely across the end thereof, substantially as described and shown.
Masonry comprising vertical courses of bricks having apertures of elongated cross-section and extending at an incline to the edges right through the brick and crossing the one the other in two superposed bricks, and separate solid dowels having each a smooth straight middle portion and tapering at both ends along at least one-fifth of the length and inserted in vertical position into the registering apertures of two superposed courses of superposed courses of bricks and held in position solely by friction on the walls of the apertures.
A wall construction, comprising a footing provided in its top with a wide chase, horizontal layers of unitary hollow blocks arranged upon the footing, each block including sides and ends forming a main recess, the sides of each block having a pair of vertical opposed spaced ribs formed upon their inner faces for providing reduced passages between the ribs, key-slabs for each layer of blocks and having substantially the width of the main recesses of the blocks and inserted within such recesses and engaging behind the ribs, the key-slabs of each layer having their lower ends projecting downwardly below the blocks and their upper ends terminating short of the tops of the blocks, the lower ends of the key-slabs of the lowermost layer extending into the chase and the lower ends of the key-slabs of each successive upper layer of blocks projecting into the upper ends of the main recesses of the next lower layer of blocks behind the ribs, and a concrete filling within the main recesses of the blocks and extending through the passages between the ribs to be bonded to the key-slabs.
Disclosed are rectangular building blocks, each of which is provided with intersecting grooves in the opposed horizontal faces and an aperture extending through the block from the bottom walls of the grooves at the intersections thereof and wherein means are provided for extension through said apertures and for disposition within said grooves for securing horizontally disposed abutting blocks in position.
The invention is a wall constructed of blocks of generally parallelepipedal form each having a pair of spaced parallel dowel holes opening through and normal to its top and bottom faces, said holed being symmetrically related to the respective ends of the block, and a plurality of dowel pins each having a stop flange between its ends and each fitting a respective hole with its flange abutting the lower face thereof, said pins having a length equal to the vertical dimension of the blocks plus the thickness of the joint between courses, each said pin extending below said flange by a distance greater than said thickness of joint.
An inclined conical refractory wall comprising burned refractory bricks laid in a conical course, each brick having a hot end and a cold end with sides extending longitudinally between the ends, the hot end forming an inner inclined conical wall surface with a cold end being substantially parallel thereto, said wall including a lower course of bricks and an upper course of bricks resting directly on the lower course of bricks, each brick of an upper course having an aperture in the lower side of the brick and a metallic projection, the projection including a tab extending downwardly from the cold end of the brick perpendicular to the lower side of the brick adapted to engage against the cold end of a brick of a lower course, a web extending inwardly therefrom along a recess in the lower side of the brick toward the hot end and a leg extending upwardly from the web parallel to the tab and resiliently wedged into the aperture in the lower side of the brick.
In a brick wall construction, a brick comprising a horizontally-elongated face portion and a bonding lug projecting horizontally and transversely from said face portion, said brick having generally-horizontal upper and lower surfaces common to the face portion and to said lug, and being formed in said surfaces respectively with vertically-registering trios of sockets, each said trio being arranged to define the three corners of an isosceles triangle, said triangle being in relatively-spaced parallel planes, the sockets of the upper said surface all being of similar circular cross-sectional shape and proportioned for encircling line engagement with uniformly-dimensioned spherical keys along circles of contact of similar diameter disposed in a common horizontal plane of the brick, to support said keys in fixed triangular disposition with their centers concentric to the respective sockets in a common horizontal plane above said upper surface; the sockets of the other said surface having flat bottoms disposed in a common horizontal plane for engagement with said respective keys, and being of lesser depth than the radius of said keys, said last-mentioned sockets including encircling side walls proportioned to permit reception of said keys in abutting relation to the socket bottoms despite slight variations in the relative horizontal positions of said keys.
In an apertured wall structure, the combination of a plurality of rectangular blocks assembled in spaced end to end relationship in horizontal courses of blocks with the middle one-third portions of the blocks of each course of blocks overlaying the spaces between the blocks of the next adjacent lower course, each of said blocks defining a recess extending from its bottom surface up into its middle one-third portion, and each of said blocks including substantially vertically extending circular apertures of substantially constant cross sectional area along at least a major portion of their lengths centrally located in the end one-third portions of each block, counterbores defined in at least one surface of each block about its apertures, a plurality of cylindrical resilient metallic opened ended sleeves each including a slot from end to end along its length and a generally annular external protrusion intermediate its ends, said blocks of each course having their apertures aligned with the apertures of the blocks 9n the next adjacent course, and said sleeves positioned in the apertures at the juncture of blocks in adjacent courses of blocks and extending less than one-half the distance through adjacent blocks, with the annular protrusion of each sleeve being positioned in the counterbore of at least one of the blocks.
A concrete block simulating a Norman brick is formed with two large cores separated by a central web. The cores are adapted to receive insulating foam during manufacturing of the block. Each block is grooved in its opposite ends and recessed in its central web for the reception of wedge elements or keys formed of plastic or the like. Adjacent blocks in each course are interlocked and the courses of walls constructed from the blocks in either a stacked bond or running bond are mechanically interlocked and properly aligned. Epoxy cement is utilized for bonding of courses in a customized wall or in prefabricated panel sections utilizing the interlocking block.
A device for connecting bricks which have apertures to receive the device is provided. A support shaft of the supports resilient transverse fins which form an interference fit with the aligned apertures of two adjacent bricks. Stop surfaces on the support shaft engage the respective bricks to ensure penetration of both bricks. Flared ends of the device facilitate insertion and centering of the device within the apertures and provide protection for the fins. During insertion, the transverse fins are deflected inward toward the support shaft and longitudinally toward the stop surfaces. After insertion, the fins are biased outward by their resiliency into engagement with the bricks to lock the adjacent bricks together.
A mortarless concrete block retaining wall is formed from special blocks arranged in setback tiers and interlocked by special offset pins. Each block is trapezoidal in plan view with a pair of vertical holes behind a relatively wide front face. The holes in adjacent tiers are laterally offset. The pins have opposite end sections which are laterally offset from one another and fit respectively in the offset holes to interlock adjacent tiers in setback relation. The special pins are rotatably adjustable to interlock the tiers in a straight configuration or in varying degrees of convex and concave curved configurations.
A precast concrete block having a first single thickness generally planar face section and a second single thickness generally planar backing section integrally formed with and extending from the first section to form a structure of a T-shaped configuration. A groove extends across and opens through an upper edge of the second planar section for the receipt of a rebar. The blocks are assembled into stacked side-by-side relationship and a panel is formed by casting concrete against the side of the generally planar face sections from which the backing sections extend. Rebar extends across and through the grooves of at least certain of the blocks to maintain the blocks in aligned side-by-side relationship and reinforce the concrete cast against the blocks. The panels are used in the construction of retaining walls for earthen formations and may be precast or formed in place at the situs of the formations. When used in the construction of retaining walls, vertical rebars extend into the cast concrete from a foundation supporting the panels and connectors may be provided to secure the panels to anchor elements within the earthen formation.
The present invention relates generally to alignment devices and, more specifically, to a clip for aligning layers of cinderblocks without placing mortar between the layers and adjacent blocks.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip for laying cinderblocks that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip that can be used by unskilled laborers to lay cinderblock walls.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip that ensures vertical alignment between successive rows of cinderblocks.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip that eliminates the need for placing mortar between the rows of and the adjacent cinderblocks.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip that obviates the need for an external geometric measuring device for determining level placement of sequential courses of cinderblocks.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip that reduces the labor force necessary to construct structures using cinderblocks.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip that reduces the time needed to construct structures using cinderblocks.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip that provides consistent vertical spacing between cinderblocks.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip having an upper channel and a lower channel formed by a planar arrangement of walls having a predetermined space therebetween.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment clip having spaces extending through a middle section for allowing filler material to fill the cavities of the cinderblock and the spaces therebetween.
Additional objects of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.
The alignment device of the present invention is a clip having a planar surface with raised portions on opposing sides for positioning between cinderblocks for spacing apart thereof at a predetermined distance.
In addition to the raised portions formed in the center, the top surface has spaced apart walls forming a channel and the bottom surface has spaced apart walls forming a channel with each of the channels spaced apart walls conforming in distance to the wall thickness of a cinderblock.
The top and bottom clip channels are vertically aligned, causing the top most row to be plumb with the bottom most row thereby allowing unskilled labor can be used to construct walls.
In addition to providing an equidistant spacing between courses of cinderblock, the space created by the raised portions in the planar surface also provides a gap through which air may escape from the central cavity between the cinderblocks as a filler material, such as concrete, is pumped therein, thus allowing the concrete to fill the spaces between the blocks without air gaps therein.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a cinderblock alignment clip providing means for layering cinderblocks without the need for mortar placed between the layers and adjacent blocks while making use of the normative cinderblocks preferred at a majority of construction sites. Eliminating the need for mortar while laying the cinderblocks allows for quick work of the stacking of multiple courses of cinderblock. The alignment clip has a planar surface with raised portions on opposing sides so that when the clip is positioned between cinderblocks, the blocks are spaced away from each other by a predetermined distance equal to the height of the raised portion on one side plus the height of the raised portion of the other side. In providing a constant space between blocks, ensures a level top surface consistent with an initial leveling measurement made prior to the first course of cinderblock.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages will appear from the description to follow. In the description reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments will be described in sufficient detail to those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the accompanying drawings, like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views.